Psychology Primer: Behaviorism and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Difference between revisions

Born out of a rejection of the psychoanalytic school of thought, behaviorism sought to establish a rational and, more importantly, quantifiable explanation for human behavior. Although not the original founder of the philosophy, B.F. Skinner is the most widely recognized proponent of the school of thought. Integral to the concept of behaviorism is the concept of behavior modification through rewards or consequences. Additionally, the concepts of behavior stemming purely from a response to a given stimulus are key. In modern practice, behavioral principles are utilized extensively in the areas of group dynamics and behavioral modification. More broadly, they can be applied to the concept of socialization, that is the molding of a person’s behavior into a socially accepted form of expression through a figurative “stick and carrot” approach. Interestingly enough, this concept of rewards and consequences to modify behavior can easily illustrate one of Freud’s concepts: that of the pleasure/pain principle.

Where behaviorism has its strengths, however is in its application as a tool for behavior modification, particularly in social constructs. Through the use of positive and negative reinforcement techniques almost any negative or socially unacceptable behavior can be reduced while conversely positive behavior can be enhanced. For example, lets say that you have a Simmer who is constantly “throwing a monkey wrench” into your sims, blowing up the ship, inviting hostile aliens aboard at inappropriate times, or generally just aggravating the heck out of the crew. You can count on the Command staff to address the behavior, but one of the ways that they will likely do so is to call upon you is to work with the simmer to modify their behavior so that the simmer can be retained aboard a particular vessel. The specific techniques for handling this sort of situation will be presented in Tutorial 3, however a sneak peek would be to use the “sandwich” technique of constructive criticism, wherein you would sit the young ensign down and praise them for something they’ve done, or acknowledge at the very least the important role that they play on board the ship and the potential that they have to be a great officer. Then you would identify the negative behaviors that the command staff are concerned about and illustrate how those behaviors negatively impact the ensign’s ability to achieve that potential. It is here where you would explore the ensign’s difficulties in conformity to orders or etiquette, perhaps lay out possible consequences for continued negative behavior and if possible rewards for good behavior. Maybe the ensign feels that the only attention he or she is receiving is negative. You could validate that it is important for the ensign to be recognized for work well done, and point out that the command staff is showing confidence in the ensign by referring him or her to you out of a desire to retain the ensign as a valuable member of the crew. Then, after dealing with the negative and possible consequences for the ensign’s actions, you would again find a way to end the session on a positive and upbeat note.  This is just one of the variations of “stimulus/ response” being utilized to achieve a positive outcome, and should form the foundation of your dealings with each crew member.

The cognitive model especially emphasized in psychiatrist Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy says that a person's core beliefs (often formed in childhood) contribute to "automatic thoughts" that pop up in everyday life in response to situations. Cognitive Therapy practitioners commonly hold that clinical depression is typically associated with negatively biased thinking and dysfunctional thoughts.<br /><br />

 

Cognitive behavioral therapy is often used in conjunction with mood stabilizing medications to treat conditions like bipolar disorder.</blockquote>

As I will elaborate in Tutorial #3 the CBT approach is useful in dealing with sim characters suffering from some forms of depression or exhibiting self sabotaging behaviors, as well as treating some forms of anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders as well.